Post Production: How To Get From Your Rough Cut To Polished Work

Having a rough cut is the first goal that you should set out
to achieve during the post production phase. Editing a movie is a
daunting task that can only be completed in stages; the rough cut is the
one that needs to be completed first because all of the decisions that
you will make in the other phases are dependent on it. Once it has been
completed and approved, you are able to turn your rough cut into
polished work.

Step 1: Edit When You're Shooting

The process of editing a movie begins before any footage is even
shot. During pre-production, the director will create shot lists and
storyboards. It is during this planning stage that he first begins to
think about how the final product will come together. He will then use
his vision to plan out his shots so that they all edit together smoothly
during the edit. This foresight allows him to maintain control over his
work.

Step 2: Assemble the Rough Cut

There is a cliche but a true saying that a movie is made three times:
once during pre-production (with the shot lists), again during
production (when unforeseen compromises/opportunities change the shot
list), and finally in post production when all the footage is put
together to create the movie that audiences will see. It is with the
rough cut that all of the creative decisions in editing are made. Do we
cut to a close up or wide shot? Was the actresses performance better in
take 5 or take 6? Does this reaction shot that we never thought of
including make the scene better? All of these decisions and choices are
made for the rough cut.

Step 3: Watch and Change the Rough Cut

Once the rough cut is assembled, watch it over and over again. Take
notes about what you thought worked and didn't work and then make the
changes. You need to get the materials together that make the best
movie. Once you are confident that you have that, you can move on to
polishing your work.

Step 4: Trimming Your Clips

The first step in polishing the work is trimming the clips down to
their best lengths. Get the timing of the scene right with the
performances and make sure that the cuts are smooth and seamless. You
want to get everything to be perfect.

Step 5: Add Transitions

Once the clips have been trimmed down to their final lengths, you
should add transitions to your video like fades and dissolves. Don't go
overboard with them. A few can make a movie better, but a lot can make
it cheesy.

Step 6: Create the Effects

Do whatever special effects work needs to be done. Once that is
complete, your picture edit should be near complete and you can move on
to audio editing.

Step 7: Add Sound Effects, Music and Foley

Watch the rough edit a lot to see what audio work needs to be done.
It ranges from project to project but will most likely include editing
the originally recorded audio, creating ADR, and adding sound effects,
music and foley. Editing the audio for your project is extremely
important. You need to have great sound design to sell the movie to
audiences.

Step 8: Color Correction

Once the audio and picture are both complete, you need to perform
color correction on the project to make it look its best. The reason
that this step is near the end is because you don't want to waste your
time color correcting video that won't make the final cut.

Step 9: Watch the Movie over and over Again

Now that the work has been polished, it is still not complete. Take
advantage of the fact that you have a deadline and keep watching the
movie; do whatever you can to make it better right up until the last
second.